Australia

AU Style makes money

LOCATION is everything in real estate. But new research has revealed that different styles of houses can command a premium.

The research from buyers advocate group Secret Agent shows a solid brick house in Melbourne's Hawthorn, one of the city's priciest suburbs, can be as much as $496,400 more than a weatherboard home.

Meanwhile, in neighbouring Burnley wooden houses attract a premium as high as $62,200 above brick.

Architecture is also a major factor, with late Victorian-style properties in Fitzroy enjoying a premium as high as $187,900, but across the border into Clifton Hill or Northcote bungalows are all the rage, with premiums up to $196,400 and $78,600, respectively.

It found Queen Anne and contemporary styles are the city's most expensive, but also the most difficult to sell.
The research tracked more than 2500 sales last year across Melbourne's inner suburbs.

Real estate firm director Paul Osborne said the research found while that the scarcity of certain styles in a suburb often led to a premium price tag, period homes around Melbourne generally sold at a premium.

He also noted past divisions between Melbourne's wealthy and working-class residents had been inherited by the modern market.

"In the more affluent suburbs there was a definite attraction to pay quite a premium for a brick house,'' Mr Osborne said.

Real Estate Institute of Victoria spokesman Robert Larocca said premium prices were more likely to follow larger land sizes and that the renovation status of a property would also be a major factor in premium price tags.